Exceedingly Adorable
by sweet little demon
Summary: A magical mishap happens in the middle of a battle, leaving Lucy fluffier and more adorable than ever. Humor, Fluff, adorableness, cuddliness, master planning and envy guaranteed.* Nalu *
1. Chapter 1

**A magical mishap happens in the middle of a battle, leaving Lucy fluffier and more adorable than ever. Humor, Fluff, adorableness, cuddliness, master planning and envy guaranteed.* Nalu ***

Lucy let out a frustrated sigh as her two partners scouted the mission board, something they had been doing for the last fifteen minutes. Whenever she asked what was taking them so long, they would either answer with 'there's just so many options' or 'we haven't found a good one yet', which she found was contradicting one another. Either way, she was becoming increasingly frustrated with waiting when they could be making precious time getting to wherever the mission would take place, once they _picked one out! _

She huffed out a puff of breath, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes as she stared at the seemingly endless shelves of liquor and booze. She could probably drink three of those and sober up before her two idiots finally managed to find a mission. But she wasn't going to risk it, besides, she really wasn't much of a drinker. She knew she got … weird when she was drunk, but that was all she knew. Cana and Levy refused to tell her what she said and did, saying that they wouldn't let up such precious information when it could be used for something _far _more useful. Since then, she stuck with water and coffee, unless the occasion called for it; then she would drink one half glass of wine or Champaign—watered down until there was pretty much no flavor. Not only did she not want to get drunk, she also wanted to avoid the slightest hangover. Hers were absolutely horrible. Even if it was just a small amount of alcohol, it seemed like her stomach was trying to climb out of her throat the very next morning.

"Lucy, what are you still doing here?"

Said celestial mage turned enough in her stool to face the person that had approached her, smiling weakly up at the red haired warrior.

"Hi Erza, I'm just waiting for Natsu and Happy to pick a mission. We'll be leaving as soon as they decide." Lucy said, waving her hand at the pink and blue haired males without looking at them.

"I see." Erza stated calmly, placing herself in the stool beside the blonde. She raised her finger, signaling to Mira to get her usual slice of cake. "Have you been waiting long, then?"

Lucy let out another sigh, knowing that if she told Erza _how _long she'd been waiting, she would go and rush Natsu, which would in turn cause them to start arguing and fighting, which would waste even _more _time. So instead, she simply said, "Not too long."

She jumped slightly when a large, tan hand smacked down a piece of paper on the surface area in front of her, causing her to let out a tiny squeak of shock. She looked up into the glimmering onyx orbs of her pink haired partner, taking note of the prideful joy that resided on his face.

"Let's take this one! It looks like fun! Mira! Can we take this one?" he called to the white haired barmaid, handing her the slip of paper before Lucy even had a chance to read over what the mission entailed.

"Hey! At least let me have a say in it!" she snapped, turning to give a glare at her partners. Happy launched himself off of Natsu's shoulder in favor of the silky soft head of the girl, wrapping the silk-like strands around his paws.

"But Luuucccyyyy, you picked the last one! And it was soooo borrringg!" Happy exclaimed, dropping his head to hang in front of hers, their noses brushing briefly.

"Just because we didn't have to fight or destroy anything doesn't make it boring, Happy." She said with a feigned patience, reaching up and removing him from her head, hanging him upside down before handing him off to Natsu.

"Ah, come on, Luce. If I don't let out this pent up energy on missions, I end up using it to fight with Gray—and kick his ass."

"_I heard that you burnt up piece of shi—_"

"Whatever, let's just go. We're wasting enough time as it is." She sighed again, turning to take the signed mission from Mira, missing the fact that Happy and Natsu had high-fived in what was supposed to be an inconspicuous manner. She gripped the job flier in one hand and grabbed a hold of her small pack with the other, swinging it up over one shoulder before turning to face her partners again. "Let's go!" she said, her impatient demeanor being replaced with an excited, determined feeling. She tossed them a grin and bolted for the door, the two of them hot on her heels.

She tucked the flier into her belt, planning on reading over it when they got on the train—which they _were _going to ride whether Natsu liked it or not. And judging by the fact that the closer they got to the station, the harder it was to drag him down the street, was sign enough that he really didn't like it. She held a tight grip in his wrist with both hands, pulling with all her might while Happy took the rear, pushing against Natsu's shoulders in an attempt to keep him moving. It was a slow process, but they were definitely moving.

"Oh, come on, Natsu! You were the one that was so excited about this mission. Stop stalling!" she said, tugging harder on his wrist, not caring if she could possibly dislocate his shoulder—even though she knew that it would be harder than breaking a train car in half over her knee.

"But … traaainnnsss …" he hissed out between his teeth, his face already turning a rather unappealing color, and they weren't anywhere near the station yet.

Lucy let out another frustrated sigh, racking her thoughts for anything that could make it easier on all of them. "How about … I buy us lunch when we get there? And I'll even let you," sigh, "lay on my lap." She let out the last sentence in a rather defeated tone. She didn't really mind letting Natsu lay on her lap when they traveled, since it did seem to calm him down considerably, but depending on the length of the ride and how rocky it was, it could end rather painfully for her. The last time they took a long trip up the mountains; Natsu's grip around her midsection had grown to become bone crushing/bruising, and had succeeded in setting a part of her skirt on fire. Not to mention he threw up _twice_ on her, with scalding hot _fluids _that felt like boiling lava.

After that, she didn't let Natsu lay on her lap unless it was a short trip, or didn't involve rough terrain. So the fact that she was letting up without even knowing where they were headed or how long it would take was an offer that was hard to refuse.

Natsu's eyes seemed to lighten up again, losing the ill glaze they had held before, being replaced with that determined and happy gleam again.

"Deal!" he cried, their positions now changing as he was the one gripping her wrist and dragging her at neck breaking speed down the street, Happy struggling to keep up. In fact, they moved so quickly that Lucy's legs were ripped out from underneath her and she was getting pulled through the air like a kite. But before she even had time to scream out in surprise, they screeched to a halt, Lucy's face smacking against Natsu's back and dropping to her knees on the ground.

"Oh, we're here already?" Lucy mumbled rather nasally, since she was gripping to bridge of her nose to make sure it didn't start bleeding from the impact of hitting Natsu's muscular back. She got back to her feet a little wobbly, tilting her head back slightly and pulling her fingers away from her nose, not seeing any blood so deemed herself nosebleed free.

"S-slow down …" Happy mumbled tiredly, soaring crookedly through the air before crash landing on top of Lucy's head, a tear bubble forming under his eye. Lucy giggled slightly, raising her arms to lift Happy off of her head only to cradle him in her arms like a baby.

"Let's get going!" Natsu cheered, a wide, jagged toothed smile stretching across his face as he hopped from foot to foot excitedly.

"Natsu's actually excited about getting on a train? I must be hallucinating from exhaustion." Happy said from Lucy's arms, turning over and hiding his face between her breasts.

"…aye." Was the only reply Lucy could think of at the moment, watching as Natsu continued to hop around, on occasion looking both ways the track was going to see if the train was arriving before returning to hopping around again.

"The sooner we get on, the sooner we get going, the sooner we get off and I _get food!" _Natsu cheered, jumping up and down in place. Lucy had to admit, it was an interesting sight to see. Sure, Natsu had his childish tendencies, but this was a whole new level of mental youth on Natsu's part. While Natsu continued standing, er, hopping, Lucy carried the obviously traumatized Happy over to a bench and sat down, stroking the cat's fur. When she heard quiet purrs emitting from the feline, she smiled sweetly, finding it adorable when Happy actually did things that most cats did, like purring. Shifting her legs so she could set him on her thighs, she used the hand that wasn't petting Happy to grab the flier that was still tucked into her belt.

**110,000 Jewel to catch Ronvin Coran; local town magical delinquent.**

**Has the ability to use transformation magic. Has stolen, broken and destroyed many things and areas of the town, Yaruno City. **

**Immediate Capture requested. **

Lucy wasn't sure what had drawn Natsu to this particular job, since he had claimed that it looked like fun. Honestly, it looked like something she could do on her own. A town delinquent? Transformation magic? It all seemed pretty simple. Maybe Natsu just wanted to have a reason to kick around a punk that thought himself to be all high and mighty just for the hell of it—he did it to Gray all the time.

Oh well, it was a job that they could both handle, even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't have to really do anything, maybe protect a few civilians from the stray shots of fire that would most likely come from fight. That was what she usually ended up doing on these kinds of jobs. If it came to having a large group of people to fight, like bandits or thieves, then she found herself to be a little more useful in battle. But she preferred not to fight, if it could be avoided. That's why she was more of the strategist of Team Natsu, coming up with plans that would work in everyone's favor, or would just flat out embarrass her (like the pit trap she had set up at Galuna. That wasn't one of her best moments).

"Lucy! Let's go! The train's here!" Natsu screamed for her, making her jump out of her thoughtful trance and accidentally smack her hand against the back of Happy's head. The Exceed didn't wake up, but merely stirred in discomfort. She gently stroked the disrupted area, waiting for his purring snores to return before standing to her feet and joining Natsu in the boarding line. She gave him a confused look when he crossed his arms and pouted at her, showing his displeasure at something she had done.

"What?" she asked, trying to reign in her control of blushing, what with him staring at her so intensely, even though his childish pout kinda balanced it out with adorableness.

"You accidentally nudge Happy's head and stall getting to our mission sooner to comfort him, but when you accidentally knock me out with your kicks, you don't even check to see if I'm okay?!"

"What are you talking about? Of course I check to make sure you're okay. You're unconscious, remember? You wouldn't be able to _see_ me checking on you." She said, rolling her eyes at his childishness before resuming her petting of the feline in her arms. She missed the fact that Happy had peeked open one of his eyes slightly to throw a smug smirk at his master before nuzzling his face into her breast slightly. This succeeded in making frustrated smoke seep out of his ears and nose, his lips pursed and arms crossed tightly across his chest as he tapped his foot frantically.

He couldn't quite understand what was up with his partner lately, but he had been extremely clingy to Lucy lately. And though Natsu knew it was utterly ridiculous to get jealous of a cat, he couldn't help the fact that the feline was seeming to get more attention from the celestial mage than him. That was something Natsu seemed to have strived for since the day he brought her to the Guild. He didn't even care if the attention involved bodily harm to him; at least it meant that she was focused on him fully instead of half-heartedly like right now.

That was another reason he was, surprisingly, eager to get on this train. Then he would be taking Happy's place in her lap and arms, but that wasn't the only reason. He found that when he had Lucy's scent close enough that it overrode his senses completely, he found that transportation wasn't that unbearable. If only he hadn't vomited on her that one time … okay, maybe twice, then she would still be willing to do it for him! But no, his stomach had to ruin his chances of comfort again. Simply sitting next to her and leaning against her shoulder just wasn't enough, and he didn't understand why her scent seemed to be more prominent and stronger in her stomach, which is where he always buries his face. And he had to admit, he really enjoyed having her in such close proximity, and encircled in his arms, even though that was more subconsciously done that intentionally.

Natsu rushed onto the train, holding down the unease that was beginning to grow in his stomach as he found their small cabin they would be staying in. He stood outside the door, waiting for Lucy to catch up so he could be rid of the discomfort completely. When she finally _did _get to their little cabin, she quirked an eyebrow at his strange behavior before sliding the door open and stepping in, holding the door for Natsu. He shuffled in uncomfortably, his face already turning a rather unattractive purple just standing on the train. He heard Lucy sigh as she slid the door shut, locked it and sat down on their plush couch.

Happy decided at that time to 'wake up' with a yawn and a stretch, looking around with a feigned hazy look before hopping out of her lap.

"Okay, Natsu. Come here." Lucy said, opening her arms welcomingly before patting her lap. Yaruno City wasn't too far away from Magnolia, and she happened to know that the travel was relatively smooth, as long as they didn't get hit with a freak storm on this beautifully sunny day. So she didn't have to worry about too much damage done to her, at least.

The Dragon Slayer didn't hesitate to drop himself next to her and let his head fall into her lap. Moving fast, he wrapped his arms around her midsection and rolled himself up slightly as he burrowed his face into her stomach, inhaling her scent with much gusto. Lucy giggled slightly as his nose tickled her naval briefly, dropping her hands to his hair and back. While one hand stroked and combed through his hair, the other rubbed and massaged his back and shoulders.

Happy, not wanting to be excluded, had crawled up onto her shoulders, curling himself around the back of her neck. Lucy sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. She usually had issues with clingy people, in a literal sense. She liked to have her space and only allowed a few people into her personal space for certain lengths of time, depending on her mood. But … when it came to these two, who had no idea what personal space really was, she couldn't find herself angry. Well, unless it's her house, then she'll throw a fit since they seemed to enjoy climbing through her window instead of being civilized people and simply using the door.

So, she leaned her head back, making sure to curve her neck so she didn't crush Happy into the chair and closed her eyes. She really didn't mind their touches, at all actually. Happy, well, she didn't really have to worry about him being attracted to her 'that way', since, you know, he's a cat. So whenever he flew into her chest or wanted to cuddle, she wouldn't really deny it. She had always wanted a real pet, and in a way, she counted Happy as one. Plue … he was a spirit that couldn't stay with her for a very long time. And plus, she didn't even really know what he was, even though his sign is the little doggy. So, she tended to handle Happy like a pet, even though she was well aware of the fact that he was a partner, too.

But Natsu … his touches did stuff to her, even if it was the most platonic or nonromantic thing in all the world. When he tossed his arm around her shoulders in a sideways hug, or grabbed her wrist/hand to make her move faster, and especially hugging her, it just lit a flaming warmth in stomach that made her cheeks turn pink. And then, there were those other touches, like when he'd slap her on the back in greeting or tackled her to the ground to save from an attack. Anything he did seemed to set the fire in her stomach, and she was worried that one day, he'd feel that fire inside of her and ask her why she was sweating so much and turning red. Her best guess is that he'd think she was choking and would give her to Heimlich maneuver, but then his hold around her would only make her face grow even more red, and it was just going to be a never ending cycle.

She knew she was attracted to him, any sane girl would be. He was a very handsome, strong young male with a lot of toned, hard muscle. And okay, while most people would look at his pink hair and wonder about it, she found it to be one of his most endearing traits. It was unique, something that not many people had, and, despite its rather feminine color, it definitely suited him. Unique, vibrant and outstanding, just like his personality. Not to mention that it may look spiky and rough, it was actually quite silky. Her fingers slipped through it like it wasn't even there. And during fights, it was kind of misleading. You would never expect a man with rosy pink hair to be able to take down an entire dragon, something that no normal mage could ever dream of doing.

When she felt Natsu shift on her lap, she opened one eye and peeked down at him without moving her head. The boy had nuzzled his head closer to her stomach, hiding his face completely in her shirt, which was muffling the sounds of his snores.

_He fell asleep?! What happened to motion sickness?! _Lucy screamed to herself mentally, wanting to flail her arms around when she felt the skin of his forearm rub against bare skin on her back, her shirt having ridden up sometime along the ride. He began to murmur into her shirt, squirming slightly as his grip continued to tighten. She glanced down at his legs, seeing them twitching and beginning to slightly kick. Another thing she had picked up from him when he snuck into her bed at night. When he was having a nightmare, he moved around a lot and spoke sometimes. She probably would have never learned this if he hadn't latched onto her one night with a grip that had squeezed every ounce of air from her body, whimpering and whining in his sleep 'Stop, not them, not her' over and over again in broken phrases.

She hadn't quite known what to do then, but now was different. Happy had told her what to do to calm down the boy, since he found that now that there was someone else to do it, he didn't have to anymore. Lucy lifted her head so she could looked down at the whimpering boy, wishing she could see if face but made no move to make that come true. Instead, move one hand to his shoulder and the other to the back of his neck, messaging gently get firmly, humming the lullaby her mother had sung to her when she had awoken from nightmares as a little girl. He didn't calm down immediately, in fact, it took a few minutes, but eventually he calmed down … and began purring.

The sudden rumbling noise and slight vibration against her stomach shocked her enough to let out a small giggle. But either way, he was calm now, yet his grip wasn't anywhere close to loosening like she had hoped. Lucy let out a pouting huff, thrumming her fingers impatiently on the top of his head.

This was going to be a long ride.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Natsu mumbled groggily as he felt something shaking his shoulder. He didn't want to wake up yet, he was so cozy and comfortable and he was surrounded by the most amazing smell. He growled slightly in warning to whoever was trying to pry him away from his beautiful slumber, tightening his hold around his pillow, pressing his nose closer to the smell.

" … up right now or else I'll tell Mira that you're gay!" his eyes snapped open at the sentence, a little dazed but awake nonetheless. He propped himself up on an elbow and rubbed his eye groggily with the other hand, looking around. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd really appreciate if you removed your elbow from my … uh, you know." A voice hissed at him.

He looked up to see Lucy a few mere inches away from him, her head ducked low so her hair shielded her face from him, but the blush was obvious since it had spread down her neck. What was she blushing for? Then he looked down at his position. He was lying on his side, still propping up on his elbow, which was placed … between her legs, right under her stomach … He lurched away and onto the floor in an instant, stammering something that sounded like 'It was Happy's idea' or something along those lines.

"Whatever, let's just get off the train so we can get this mission started." Lucy sighed, pressed a hand to her forehead in an attempt to soothe her aching forehead. She hadn't been able to sleep at all during their trip because Happy's fur kept tickling her neck and Natsu's grip would occasionally tighten more than and then slacken, then tighten again. Not to mention that the moment her hands stopped their soothing massage on his hair, he would start kicking and whimpering again. It was like dealing with a new born baby. They'd start bawling their eyes out until someone picked them up and rocked them.

Their ride had lasted longer than it had originally planned because of a slight delay (A herd of cows standing across the rail road and would refuse to move until someone poked the leader with a shovel and it led the others away in hopes of getting some peace). But at least they were there now.

She was finally able to stand up, stretching her arms and legs in the process, also awakening Happy who had still been asleep on her shoulders at the time. He grumbled disapprovingly, trying to curl more thoroughly around the girl's neck by turning onto his side and grabbing onto his tail—which had been wrapped around her neck. In other words, he looked like a furry, blue cat collar wrapped around the celestial spirit mage's neck. She patted his head, trying to stir him from his slumber.

"C'mon, Happy. Natsu's awake and we need to get off the train." At the word train, Natsu's face immediately turned blue, his body quivering as he tried to stay standing up right. Lucy let out another sigh before moving to Natsu's side, hooking an arm under his and around his shoulders. "Let's get off this thing before it leaves and we have to ride it again."

No one had looked as positively enthusiastic while being dragged off a train with a blue face than Natsu did at the moment. Happy had shifted to resting on top of the blonde's head, still in a sleeping daze but managed to snicker behind his paw as Natsu's face bounced back and forth between looking incredibly ill to an iron-willed concentration.

The moment they stepped off the train, Natsu's face returned to its original tan shade and he was standing straight again, but didn't remove his arm from Lucy's shoulders as he quickly dragged her farther from the revolting contraption called transportation.

"Noooowww, I believe you said something about buying lunch?" Natsu said with a sly voice, tightening his hold around her shoulders to make sure she didn't try and back out of it. Good thing he did too, because he could feel the muscles in her back tense at his words, and then her tugging gently against his hold to see if escape would be possible.

"I guess I did, didn't I?" she huffed out in defeat. "Guess it's a good thing I brought extra money with, or else I won't get anything." She mumbled more to herself than to the other two, who had released their holds on her after the guarantee of food had been made. "Pick a place, I guess, and get lunch over with so we can get to work right away—Natsu! I said I'd by lunch, don't try eating some off the street- Natsu!"

**Oh. My. Gawd. I stalled sooooo much on writing this chapter. I want to write the story, but until the main point gets started, I pretty much find anything to distract myself, like rereading Fairy Tail Chapters. Speaking of which, oh my god I can't handle this week's one. Every time I see that picture of f!Natsu and f!Lucy (and Happy) running into the sunset with everyone from the guild waiting there, I start bawling. Cause, I think they're running off into Heaven! AHHHH I could ramble, but I ain't gonna. Next Chapter should be up… eventually. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Please! Get to safer grounds!" Lucy hollered to the loud crowd of people gathering in the center of the tiny town in a panic. "You don't need to worry! We'll get rid of this guy! … With hopefully minimal damage." She mumbled the last part to herself as she helped organize the town's folk. A lot of the men were demanding that they could handle themselves and that they wanted to help fight Ronvin, but Lucy had quickly shut down those ideas and ordered them to follow after the women and children into the hills, away from the town. She knew that Natsu could handle himself just fine, and that anyone that tried to help without knowing the way Natsu worked, would only get in the way.

She stood to the side, ushering the people down the street whilst keeping her eyes on the battle that was slightly secluded in the trees. She could see Natsu's flames flare up and then more flames, but coming from the opposite direction. She was really confused, since the flier had said Ronvin practiced with Transformation magic. Why would he be able to shoot fire? She wanted to get over there as soon as possible, but these stubborn men were still insisting on trying to aid in the fight.

"We can help! We're trained—" one man started to say to her, but she whipped her head around and gave him an icy glare.

"If you're trained for combat, then why haven't you guys fought him off? You asked for our help, and we are giving it to you, so take it. If you try and help, not only will you most likely get severely injured, but you'll get in the way. And the last thing we need is a guilty conscious while fighting when one of you get charred. NOW MOVE!" Lucy growled, her patience finally snapping for the day. She felt bad that she had taken it out on the villagers, but they were grating on her last nerve. She had been fighting against at least fifteen different men about the same situation ever since this fight had started, and she was getting sick of it. "Go with your families, protect them from anything that comes your way, alright? We can handle this." She said a more gentle voice after taking a deep breath to calm herself.

Her little speech seemed to have worked, because the men nodded and moved to join their loved ones before rushing down the street and into the hills and valleys, away from any misfires that will most likely happen. She continued to glance around to make sure nothing was approaching their direction until the last of the families disappeared over the hill. Once she was sure that everyone was at a safe distance from the fight, she turned on her heel and bolted for the trees, gripping her keys tightly. She might not be of much use, but she would try anyway. She may not be as strong as the others on her team, but that doesn't mean she's someone to sneeze at. Give someone a second of Aquarius' attitude and you'll be running for the hills, no matter how powerful and strong that person may think he is.

There was a lot of fire flaring from all directions and surprised yells coming from behind the trees that were blocking her view of the fight, and she wanted to know what was going on. It actually took her a few minutes until she found an area where the foliage wasn't so thick before she could pass through and get to the fight, but once she got to the general area, her fast pace skidded to an immediate halt.

There were two Natsus battling in the tiny space the trees created.

Well, it was obvious which one was the real one, since the second Natsu had black hair and blue eyes, but other than that, they looked the _exact _same. The two of them were spouting fire all over the place, multiple trees caught aflame and some were already burnt down to nothing but ash.

"Natsu! What's going on?!" she screamed at him, keeping her distance as she looked for some water to dip Aquarius' key into so she could put out the flames.

"This guy turned into me! And he can use my magic!" Natsu called back to her. Suddenly, he stopped mid-attack to turn and face her. "He's _copying me! _And it's annoying! _Lucy Kick _him for me!" he said, pointing at the black haired Natsu accusingly.

"What? Is this your partner?" the black haired Natsu asked, his voice sounding _nothing _like Natsu's, so Lucy guessed they weren't really all that much the same. He basically looked like Natsu with different colors and skin tones. Lucy stared at him confusedly, not really sure what to do with this situation since both the Natsus were staring at her, waiting for what she was going to do.

"Is this the Ronvin guy we're supposed to catch?"

"That is me, my beautiful mademoiselle. I am Ronvin Coran, and can I say it's an honor to be known by such a beautiful woman such as yourself." Ronvin said, bowing at the waist while keeping eye contact. Lucy was slightly disturbed by the sight of that not-really Natsu look alike saying something like that to her, blanching backwards as a small blush sprouted across her neck.

"Hey, you poser, don't distract her! She's about to kick you in the face! And it hurts!" Natsu screamed, turning to rant at Ronvin. But the other man didn't appear to be fazed by his words, simply crossing his arms across his chest in a very Natsu-like manner and smiling smugly.

"I don't believe that such a delicate beauty would do such an unladylike thing—" before he could finish his sentence, the middle of his face—from his forehead straight down to his chin—was met with the solid bottom of Lucy's boot.

"Who are you calling delicate?!" she pouted as she pressed her hands to her hips, towering over the fallen man who remained on his back, steam emitting from his now flattened face.

"Ah, she's a feisty one, eh?" he murmured, opening his eyes and propping himself up as he smirked at Natsu. "With a hot body, too. Looks like you got lucky, pal."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not h-h-here?!" her angered statement quickly turned into a surprised question as the man who sorta-did-but-didn't-at-the-same-time looked like her best friend began to glow, the muscular body and spiky hair disappearing. And in his place was now a girl, a black haired, blue eyed, pale girl that looked like Lucy. He-now-she stood to her feet, rubbing her tiny button nose as a small amount of blood began to trickle out.

"Wow, you really know how to pack a punch, er, kick. You were right about it hurting!"

Both Natsu and Lucy stared openmouthed at the black haired version of Lucy, who had just spoken those very words with a man's voice.

"How can you walk around with these two elephants on your chest? I've only had your body for a few seconds and already my back is aching!" the he-she called, pressing his hands against the two 'elephants' attached to her chest and squeezed.

"DON'T TOUCH THEM!" the real Lucy cried, hugging her arms around her chest with a steaming red face. "Natsu! Do something! Beat him up!" she screamed at her still frozen teammate, glaring and smacking her fist against the back of his head when she caught him staring at Ronvin's hands groping his own version of Lucy's chest. "NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO BE A PERVERT! DO SOMETHING!"

"Now … what kind of magic do you use? I don't feel anything really all that powerful in my body …" Ronvin mumbled to himself, now holding his hands slightly away from his body and staring down at them, clenching and unclenching the fists.

"Lucy! Don't tell him about your keys, okay?!" Natsu whispered/yelled, finally snapping out of his trance to face his blonde haired friend, bringing his hand up to block Ronvin's view of his lips. Of course, that had been completely pointless since he pretty much yelled the words their rival had needed to hear.

Lucy smacked her hand against her forehead, clenching her teeth a she made sure to keep her body turned so Ronvin couldn't see her keys placed at her hip.

"Keys, huh? So you're a celestial wizard. Guess that makes this form pretty useless, since I don't have a contract with your spirits. Oh well, this body is still fun." He said casually, shrugging his shoulders as he walked over to a tree and pressed his palm against it. "I think I'll stick with it while I kick your boyfriend's ass."

Lucy was about to retort at his claim of Natsu being her boyfriend, but her words didn't make it passed her lips as she saw the tree the black haired version of herself had touched began to glow. In place of the tree was now a gargantuan sword. In fact, it was taller than Ronvin himself, yet he grabbed the handle and laid it across his shoulders like it was a simple cane of wood.

"Light as a feather, but sharper than any tongue. This is my magic. Not only can I transform into whatever or whoever I want, I can also transform other things into whatever I want." He said smugly, swinging the sword swiftly through the air. Lucy let out a surprised squeak as the tree beside him suddenly split in two, the top half plummeting to the earth. "The very air that it cuts can become my weapon. Are you prepared to fight me, Natsu Dragneel?"

"Don't be stupid! Of course I am! I'm all fired up!"

"B-but, aren't you at least a little hesitant to fight your own partner?" Ronvin asked, gesturing down at his now feminine body.

"You ain't my partner, it's obvious you're not Lucy. You don't look a thing like her." He said, glancing over at Lucy then back at his rival. "You might have the same fashion sense, though."

"He's dressed as a guy!"

"Whatever, let's go!"

Lucy dropped to her knees in defeat, huffing out dejectedly. _I do __**not **__dress like a guy. _She thought to herself, looking down at her skirt, stomach shirt and boots. All very feminine colors. Maybe Natsu was color blind or something. It would explain the way he dressed on the day he didn't wear his usual vest and 'apron' as she liked to call it.

The fight didn't really interest her all that much. It was mostly made up of them throwing what they thought were witty comments back and forth, and Ronvin swinging his giant sword only for Natsu to dodge it and attempt to melt the blade. But when another batch of trees caught on fire, she did summon Aquarius in a puddle she found and requested as politely as possible for her to put out the fires. Of course she got called out and threatened for opening her gate in a puddle, but the job was done nonetheless. So, she sat cross legged on the ground, propping her head up with one hand while watching the battle with disinterest. It wasn't a particularly difficult looking battle, since Natsu was laughing and throwing comments at the black haired Lucy look alike, and the other was just getting frustrated and screaming profanities right back. Honestly, the 'fight' was actually pretty pathetic and Lucy felt tempted to just run over and kick Ronvin upside the head to end it so they could paid and get out of the town.

"Lucy!" she heard a voice call to her from behind, causing her to look over her shoulder to see the blue ball of fluff growing steadily larger in her direction. The blue bullet attempted to screech to a halt, but only managed to slow down enough to not cause Lucy any mental damage. Lucy grimaced as Happy scrambled to climb onto the top of her head, his paws poking and dragging across her eyes and mouth. "I went to go get help 'cause it looked like Natsu needed it!"

"Um, then where's the help?" she asked, taking note that there was no one else approaching after the exceed.

"Right here!" he cried happily as he pulled a fish out of nowhere, cuddling it to his face with a content smile.

"With 'help' you meant for you nervous stomach, didn't you?" she sighed out, not really expecting a response from the feline since he seemed to have indulged himself too deeply into his fish. But if he were to respond, he wouldn't have had a chance to.

"What is _that?!" _Ronvin screamed, stopping mid-attack to point at the cat sitting atop the blonde's head. "And did it just _talk?!" _

"That's Happy." Natsu said, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest as if it were something to be proud of.

"You gotta tell me where I can get one, man." The black haired Lucy pleaded, his form beginning to glow and revert to a young teen boy with black hair and blue eyes. It actually shocked Lucy to see that he looked no more than maybe fifteen years old, possibly sixteen. He ran up to Natsu and pressed his hands against his shoulders, getting up in the Dragon Slayer's face with an excited, pleading smile.

"Sorry, only Dragon Slayers get one." Natsu said, pushing the teen away from him with more force than necessary, sounding rather smug.

That didn't appear to be the answer he had wanted, because his face contorted into one of extreme anger and annoyance. He seemed to be trying to come up with something to say, but the words wouldn't make it past his tight lips. He glanced over at Lucy, who had lifted Happy off of her head to hold in her lap, just in case he decided to go and make a grab for the Exceed. She watched his face expectantly, searching for any hints of what may be running through his mind. The red, angered tint it had taken suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a smirk, she started to sweat nervously, forcing herself to her feet and gripping Happy tighter in case she had to make a run for it.

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to get my own." He said, suddenly launching himself high into the air, right for Lucy and Happy. Expecting that move, she turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could away from him, but he still seemed to be gaining on her through the air. When he was just a few yards away from landing on her, she skidded to a stop and squatting, evading his attack easily before turning again and running the other direction.

But not wanting to risk him suddenly snatching Happy away from her, she tossed the cat into the air, ordering him to fly as high as he could. He did as he was told, crying his thanks to her as he disappeared in the clouds. She looked over her shoulder, continuing to run, to see that Ronvin was still charging for her, a smile present on his face as he gained on her quickly. But the fact that she hadn't been looking where she was running, her foot caught on a large rock and she tumbled to the ground, kicking up a large amount of dusk and obscuring all view of her.

Natsu managed to grab the teen by the ankles before he disappeared completely in the dust cloud, but he heard Lucy squeal in shock when she felt the kid's hand touch her. Clenching his teeth, he yanked the kid as hard as he could and tossed him to the ground, towering over him with a fiery aura.

"What's the big idea going after Happy, huh? I told you, Dragon Slayers only." He raised his hands to his mouth and sucked in a big breath. "Fire Dragon Roar!" he called, raining down flames upon the surprised teen, who cried out in shock and soon in anguish as the flames engulfed him. After a few seconds, Natsu dropped his attack, seeing the kid frozen in a position with his arms raised above his head to attempt and block the attack. But judging by the fact that every square inch of his body was completely charred and covered in ash and soot, it obviously had no affect against the attack. "We could have avoided this if you would have just come quietly, ya know?"

He didn't get a reply, since Ronvin simply breathed out a raspy squawk before falling backwards, presumably unconscious.

"N-Natsu …?" he heard Lucy call for him. He turned to see that the dust cloud was still lingering in the air, making it impossible to see his partner. "I feel … weird."

He walked over and into the dust cloud, waving his hand in the air in an attempt to clear it.

"Where are ya? I can't see you." He said, blowing air out of his lips to help aid in the air cleansing.

"Down here … when did you get so tall?" she asked, sounded confused … and directly below him. He dropped his gaze to the ground to see a yellow cat propping itself up on its front paws, staring up at him with owlish brown eyes. And it smelt entirely of Lucy's scent.

Natsu promptly fell to the ground in laughter.

**I know, shorter, really fast and not well written. I have a problem where it's 'all talk or all thought' when I write**. **Oh, and I won't be around until Sunday, since I'm heading up to my aunts cabin. But since there's no wifi up there, all I'll have to do is write, so I should have a few chapters done when I come back. See ya! -SWD-**


	3. Chapter 3

**Really Mashima? Really? Three new chapters in one day, and not a hint of Nalu? So basically, all we got was a hug from last week's chapter and then you drop us back down here?! gahhhhhhh**

**New chapter *chucks at face* *flees***

Lucy watched in surprised confusion as Natsu rolled around on the ground, laughing and banging his feet and fists against the ground frantically. He started to laugh right after he saw her … She brought her hands up to her eye level, expecting to see maybe her skin a different color or maybe he was just laughing because she was covered in dirt from her tumble. But no, that wasn't the case at all. Instead of human fingers, she was met with white, pink padded paws.

"Wha …!" she looked down at the rest of her body, and instead of seeing her curvy teen figure, she saw the body of a cat … the Happy type of cat. Nearly her entire body was covered in blonde, yellow fur, only her feet, hands—er, paws—and stomach were faded into a bright, snow white color. She brought her _paws _up to touch around her face and head, feeling a tiny nose sitting in front of the slightly jutted out muzzle. Running her hands across her cheeks, she felt short whiskers slip between the nubs of her paws. And finally, feeling the fear of what she knew was there, she reached up and touched the corners of the top of her head. Pointed, triangular ears. "What's going on?!" she screamed as she tried to lurch to her feet, but over threw herself and ended up stumbling face first into the dirt again.

She pushed herself up with her arms into a bowing position, shaking her head to clear the dust from her eyes and mouth. She clawed at her mouth when she felt a few strands of grass stuck between pointed fangs, trying to grip them but couldn't quite get the hang of it.

"N-Natsu! Stop laughing, please!" she screamed in a panic, not as angry as she probably should have, and it came off as more pleadingly than anything. Surprisingly, Natsu stopped laughing immediately, sitting up cross-legged to stare at her. Lucy couldn't look up to meet his onyx eyes; she was too scared to remove her eyes from looking down at her small, feline body. She was trembling quite visibly, her eyes losing that beautiful shine and turning to a flat, light brown.

"Sorry." He mumbled, continuing to stare at her, but there was sincerity in his apology. It had just … surprised him. But now that he looked at her, he could see that she was quite shaken up and very confused. "Um, are you okay?" he asked, standing to his feet and crossing the short distance between them to squat down in front of her.

"I … d-don't know. What happened to me?" she asked, finally looking up to meet his eyes. They were watering slightly, but they had returned to their beautiful, chocolate brown. Natsu closed his eyes and cupped his chin with two fingers, thinking deeply about what could have caused this.

"It must have been him." he said quietly, turning to look over his shoulder at the charred teenage boy.

"Th-that's right … he said he would find an Exceed of his own, but I thought he was going after Happy. After he touched my leg, I started to feel tingly, but I just thought that was the adrenaline of being chased down." She said, dropping her gaze to look behind her, quivering in disgusted nervousness at the sight of a tail sitting behind her.

Just when it looked as if Natsu was about to say something, Happy came soaring in and crashed into the pink haired man's head, not slowing down the slightest like he had with Lucy before. The blue he-cat was in bubbling, frantic tears, mumbling about not wanting to be taken away and how he needed comfort fish.

"N-Natsu~~" he whimpered, snuggling into the pink locks. Natsu didn't really pay him any attention, just continued to stare down at Lucy, who was beginning to become quite unsettled by his intense staring. Happy finally took note that Natsu wasn't listening to his rambling and turned his head to see where his foster father's eyes were locked. His. Eyes. Popped. _Out. _Quickly detaching himself from Natsu's head, he dropped to the ground beside the Dragon Slayer, slowly approaching the female. "Lucy?"

Happy wasn't oblivious, okay? Sure, he could be as dense as Natsu sometimes, since the boy did pretty much raise him. But he knew that the Exceed sitting before him was definitely Lucy. He didn't even need to have heightened smelling to tell. She stared up at him with wobbling brown eyes before attempting a weak smile that looked … strange on her new face.

"Looks like he wasn't after you in the first place, huh, Happy?" she asked, giving an awkward chuckle as both of the boys just stared at her. She tried to push herself to stand on her back legs, but couldn't find her center of balance, her tail and abnormally large head making her wobble and fall onto her backside again. "WILL YOU GUYS STOP STARING AND HELP ME FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO?!" she shrieked.

It seemed to have snapped them out of their stares, because Happy shook his head and launched himself at the girl, tackling her head on and actually making them tumble backwards a short distance.

"Luuuccyyy! Thank you! You saved me!" he cried, his arms actually managing to fit around her entire midsection for once. He hid his face in her stomach, similar to what Natsu would do on train rides, and it absolutely shocked Lucy with the face that he was … bigger than her. She patted his head awkwardly, looking over at Natsu who was watching their display with a blank face.

"What should we do? Wake him up and make him change me back?" she asked over Happy's head, eyes pleading for Natsu to come up with a solution to get her out of this mess.

"I don't think he'll be waking up any time soon …" Natsu laughed, throwing his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the charred, smoking body of Ronvin.

"Well there's no way I'm staying like _this_!" she cried, nudging Happy away from her in an attempt to stand again, but only to fail yet again and fall onto her stomach. "Why can't I stand?!"

While she continued to try and stand, only to flop back onto the ground, Natsu and Happy were trying to muffle their snickers behind their hands. It was … amusing to see her in such an interestingly vulnerable state. _And sort of adorable. _Natsu thought, shocking himself at the words that had ran through his head. But he had to admit, it was true. Despite her being older than Happy, and probably Carla, she was smaller than both of them, almost kitten sized.

After satisfying their needs for a good laugh, Natsu stood up and walked over to now motionless female. She was lying face down on the ground, apparently having given up on attempting to find her sense of balance. He bent down and hooked his thumbs under her arms, lifting her up and holding her at arm's length to get a good look at her. She was incredibly light, lighter than Happy was, and like he said before, really tiny. In fact, if he cupped his hands, she could probably roll up in a ball and fit in them. Lifting his gaze from her own, he saw that dead center in the middle of her forehead was a white star, patterned into her fur.

"Don't worry about it. We'll hand this guy in, go back to the guild and ask the Gramps for help. He's gotta have a potion or something to help." He said, smiling widely at his female partner. She returned a wobbly smile before sighing.

"What will my spirits think of this … my keys!" she suddenly perked up, struggling in Natsu's hold to look for her clothes, finally realizing that she was, in fact, not wearing any. "Put me down! I'm n-naked!"

Natsu couldn't believe that even with all the fur covering her face, he could still see her bright red blush. She was trying to squirm out of his grasp while simultaneously trying to cover herself up with her short, furry arms. He couldn't help but laugh at her.

"You're covered in fur, Lucy." He said, tightening his hold so she didn't fall to the ground.

"So?! Carla wears clothes! Put me down so I can go to my keys!" she shrieked, still trying to fight against his hands.

"But you can't walk, remember?" he stated, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"You're enjoying this _way _too much, Natsu. If you're not going to put me down and let me get there myself, at least bring me over to them." She huffed out, crossing her arms and turning her head to huff out an exasperated breath. Natsu chuckled at her. She actually was incredibly adorable. And he wasn't afraid to say it … inside his head at least. He brought her to his chest and hooked one arm around her body, kind of like holding a teddy bear stuffed animal, and walked over to the pile of clothes sitting on the ground.

Surprisingly, he was kind of reluctant to put her down, but when he squatted down next to the pile, she managed to worm her way out from under his arm and drop the foot to the ground, crawling the few inches that remained. He watched in amusement as she picked up her pink top and tied it around her body, it being at least two feet too long for her.

Lucy picked up her key bag and flipped it open, trying to grab onto the key she needed but her nubby fingers wouldn't bend properly to her will. Using both of her paws, she picked up Virgo's key and swung it through the air above her head.

"Open, gate of the maiden! Virgo!" she cried, pleading to the celestial spirit king that she still had her powers. At first, nothing happened, nearly giving Lucy a panic attack, but then the earth beside her crumbled and the pink haired maid emerged from the hole.

"Princess." She said, bowing to the yellow furred cat.

"Virgo! Thank Mavis! Could you please make me some clothes that will … fit me?" she pleaded, looking up at the maid with wide eyes.

"Of course, Princess." She said, bowing again before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sitting back onto her bottom, she cringed when she felt her tail bend oddly underneath her body. Reaching back, she gripped the extra limb and pulled it out from under her to lay limp on the ground behind her. She was about to ask Happy how she was supposed to find her balance when her body was so weird, when a flash of light cut her off.

"Lucy, my love, what has befallen upon you?!"

Said celestial spirit mage Exceed wanted to sigh out. Of course Loki was here to 'comfort' her in her time of distress. What she hadn't been expecting was to be lifted off the ground by the Lion Spirit and hugged a little too tightly to his suited chest, her shirt falling off her small body to land on the ground at his feet.

"I'm so sorry I didn't show up to prevent this from happening, but do not fear, for no matter what form you take, I will always love you!" the blonde-orange haired male cried, clutching her tighter to his chest. The little air that had been inside of her shrunken lungs had been forced out the moment he grabbed onto her, and she was slowly losing consciousness. She patted her pawed fist against his chest weakly, her eyes beginning to cross as she was sure she was turning as blue as Happy. And she was positive that her mini spine had been cracked in half from the force of the hug.

And then … sweet relief. She was yanked out of his grasp and into the hair, pawed hands holding her at her sides. She gasped as air finally filled her lungs, nearly crying out her thanks to the lord above, but wanted to savor all the air she could.

"T-thanks, Happy." She panted out, turning to smile at the male Exceed that had lifted her from the Lion's grasp.

"No problem, Lucy!" he cried happily, before swooping down a little lower and stopping beside Natsu, who reached out and took her from the blue feline, cradling her in his arms gingerly.

"Hey! What's the big idea? Take your hands off of her before you burn all of her beautiful fur off of her body!" Loki hollered at them, a fair distance away from them.

"What about you?! You were gonna crush 'er!" Natsu yelled right back, shifting so the arm that cradled Lucy was farthest from the Lion. At that point, she was too exhausted to really fight his hold—not that she really wanted to. She just stared up at the sky, resting her paws on her stomach and tried to regain all of her breath, and possibly get her heart beat back up to his normal pace—it dropping to a dangerously slow beat. She completely ignored the insults and the argument in general between the two men. She just wanted Virgo to hurry up with those clothes so she wouldn't have to worry about it any longer and can focus on what to do with the guild.

"Well you're hair doesn't make sense!"

"Neither does yours! It's _pink!" _

"It's _salmon! _How many times do I have to say it! Salmon! Not pink!"

"Looks pretty pink if you ask me."

"I _didn't _ask you! Now, why don't you just go disappear and leave us alone!"

"I came to give comfort to my one and only love, but you continue to get in between us every time I try!"

"Not my fault that she's not interested, which I'm sure she's told you more than once."

"She hasn't outright told me that—"

"OH MY GOD! JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" Lucy cried, her ears ringing and head aching from their loud voices. She was starting to take note of how sensitive her ears, eyes and nose were, and them screaming at each other from not that far of a distance was making her ears want to bleed. She brought her paws up to grab onto the tops of her ears, tugging them down almost painfully, turning in Natsu's hold to burrow her face into his chest. She was thankful that her face was hidden, because her face sprouted an unhealthy shade of red when Natsu's arm tightened around her, and then brought his other hand to rest on the back of her head.

She didn't hear any retort from Loki, and didn't plan on turning around to see if he had hung around. She just let the pounding in her head slowly die down to a less painful beat, but it still hurt quite a bit. She knew cats had good hearing, but she would never have guessed that she'd be able to hear Happy's heart beat when he's was sitting on the ground beside them. Now she understood why Happy would slightly freak out whenever she yelled at him and Natsu for breaking into her apartment, and was feeling slightly guilty for probably causing pain to the two of them. But of course, they both grew up with the heightened senses, and probably learned how to manage the less than quiet noises of Magnolia.

"Hey, Luce?" Natsu called, not particularly a whisper, but definitely quieter than his usual voice. She released her hold on her ears and peeked an eye open to look at him. He patted her a little too roughly on the head before shifting her to sit upright in his hold, turning her to see Virgo standing a few feet away with fabrics hanging off of her arms.

"Oh, Virgo! Thank goodness." She sighed, slipping out of Natsu's grasp, momentarily forgetting that when she hit the ground, she'd fall over immediately. Fortunately, Natsu's quick reflexes came in handy and he scooped her out of the air before she hit the earth.

"Geez, Luce, and you call me impatient …" he mumbled under his breath, tucking her against his chest again as he walked the rest of the way to the pink haired maid.

"I'm sorry for taking so long, Princess. Do you wish to punish me?" Virgo asked with the same deadpan expression as always.

"NO! I've already told you, I don't do that kind of stuff!" Lucy cried, pressing her paw against her forehead, right on top of the star. Natsu hooked his thumbs under her arms again and held her out to Virgo, his fingers overlapping each other across her stomach. Virgo took Lucy into her own hold and turned her back to the two curious pairs of eyes, bending down to set Lucy on the ground in order to help aid in dressing the girl—er, Exceed.

The outfit wasn't much, Virgo explaining that she had wanted to get the clothes to Lucy as soon as possible, but it was good enough for Lucy. She thanked Virgo when the maid helped tug the small dark blue skirt up and over her tail—Lucy flushing from embarrassment from the fact that there was a tail hole made into the skirt—and when she helped tie tiny blue ribbons behind Lucy's ears. She easily slipped the white ring of clothe over her head and pass her shoulder to cover where her breasts used to be, her white belly showing.

"Thank you, Virgo! So much! Oh, and tell Loki that it's okay that he almost smothered me, he's forgiven." Lucy said with a sweet smile, resting her front paws in her lap, still not able to stand without falling over. Virgo bowed and disappeared again, leaving Lucy alone with her two partners, who were smiling widely at her, Natsu trying to hide something behind his back.

"What?" she asked curiously, not even attempting to stand—not wanting to ruin the new outfit—as she waited for the two of them to come to her, which of course they did.

"Look Lucy! We made your key bag thing into a backpack! Like mine!" Happy cried, flying behind Natsu only to appear on the other side, holding her key bag. He landed down beside the blonde Exceed, holding out the bag to show her. It was true. The small little loop that had been at the top, where she'd hang it off of her belt, had been cut in the center, making two straps. Those two straps had been pinned down to make it look like backpacks straps. It was actually incredibly well crafted, even though they had done it within the few minutes that she had been getting dressed. And the loops were big enough that she could slip her belt through them, making it harder to drop her bag on accident. That is, if she ever returns to normal.

"Thanks, guys!" she said, taking the bag and examining it to make sure that none of her keys were missing and that the latch was still solid. She slipped the straps over her shoulders, finding them slightly loose, but that shouldn't be a problem, since she didn't exactly plan on getting comfortable in this form.

"We should probably get back the guild as soon as possible so we can get me back to normal." Lucy said, pushing herself onto her back feet and leaning one paw against Natsu's leg to keep herself standing. She looked up at the two when she got no response, only to find them both staring at her with smiles. "What?"

"Luuucccyyy! You're being cute!" Happy cried, fluttering down to her level and was about to pick her up, but Natsu beat him to the punch. He scooped her up with one hand, making her squeak in surprise and wrap her arms around his thumb when she was sure that she would fall off.

"What do you mean 'I'm being cute'? I'm always cute!" she said, pouting up at the blue Exceed.

"Yeah, but this is a different kind." Natsu added in, setting her up on his shoulder as he bent down to her old pile of clothes and shoved them into his pack, figuring that Lucy would slaughter him if he forgot—cat form or not. Lucy blushed, of course, since he unintentionally agreed that she was cute, both right then and all the time.

"Whatever." She huffed out. "What are we going to do with the guild? I mean, should we tell them that it's me, or … what?" she asked, managing to bend her nubs into a fist in his hair so she wouldn't fall backwards off of his shoulder. Natsu had grabbed onto the back of Ronvin's jacket and was walking towards the path that would lead the into the town.

"I don't see why not—"

"No! Let's wait before we tell anyone! It might wear off on its own." Happy suggested, cutting off Natsu's reply in a rather urgent manner. Both of his partners turned to face him questioningly.

"I guess so, but if there's a chance that Master can change me back sooner, I'd like to take it." Lucy said, scrunching up her nose and looking cross eyed, flicking off a piece of dirt that had attached itself onto one of her whiskers.

"B-but what if it accidentally makes it permanent?!" Happy cried, suddenly pressing nose to nose against Lucy's face.

"Happy … Are you trying to stall me getting back to normal?" Lucy accused, glaring slightly at the male cat.

Natsu turned his head to look at Happy, catching the cat's eye before they both shared a similar smile. They didn't need to speak it out loud to know that they were thinking the same thing. Lucy was a lot more fun like this.

"I agree with Happy. We should wait a few days and see if you go back to normal, and if you don't, we can ask Master if there's anything he can do." Natsu said, sharing a wink with Happy that Lucy managed to miss.

"But won't everyone get suspicious when you show up without me but with another Exceed that looks and sounds like me?"

That was a good point, something that both of the boys had overlooked. Natsu pressed his face into his hand in thought again, huffing out steamy breaths through his nose.

"We can tell everyone else that you decided to stay behind for a while 'cause you liked the village. And we can tell Gramps right away that it's you, but that we're going to wait and see if the effects wear off. He can help us make the alibi look more official."

"Aye! And you don't have to talk! You can't even stand, so if you don't talk, I don't think anyone would think anything of it." Happy added on. "You kind of look like you just hatched. Hey! That could work! We could say that we found an egg and it hatched on our way back!" Happy smiled, pumping his fist in the air excitedly.

"But we have two other Dragon Slayers in the guild, won't they be able to tell it's me by my scent? I mean, you said you've tracked me down before using it, right?" Lucy tried, attempting to talk the boys out of their hopes of keeping her like this. She had a feeling that they were enjoying that she was sort of helpless; leaving them to do anything they wanted. Eat everything out of her fridge, sleep in her bed without her being able to kick them out, forcefully drag her on missions she wouldn't ever agree to go on, and eat everything out of her fridge _again. _

Natsu actually stopped in his tracks at her reminder of the remaining Dragon Slayers in their Guild, seeming to be deep in thought.

"We could rub flowers all over her to mask her scent!" Happy offered, raising his paw in the air with a smile.

"That's perfect!" Natsu said, suddenly changing course and walking towards a large group of flowers that was off the trail.

"What?! Don't even think about it! I'll get all grass stained and dirty!" she yelled, grabbing onto Natsu's jacket sleeve with her claws and began her journey down. When she reached the bottom of his sleeve, she managed to crawl onto the back of his jacket, making it impossible for him to grab at her. Of course, she completely forgot about Happy though.

She struggled wildly when Happy grabbed her by the tail, lifting her into the air onto to hover her upside down in front of Natsu. The pink haired Dragon Slayer wrapped one hand around her stomach, bending down to drop her into the flower bed.

"Now roll around, or else we could find something a lot more smellier; like a dumpster, or the old shirt I've kept in my pack for the last two months." Natsu offered with a devious smile, his eyebrow quirking up as if to challenge her in disagreeing.

Lucy stiffened in fear. One of Natsu's old shirts … that hasn't been washed for two months.

"I'll take the flowers, thanks." She sighed in defeat. She took off her key bag and white top she was wearing, knowing for sure that it would become grass stained, before dropping onto her back and begun to roll back and forth, feeling embarrassed as her two partners just watched with amusement. "Oh, wait." She said, halting in her actions to look up at the boys. "Happy, how did you know that I was me? I know you have a good nose, but you wouldn't have been able to tell from my scent right away. Don't like look like myself … sorta?"

"Don't you remember when we were in Edolas? A lot of the Exceeds looked like people from here. If someone asked, we could just say that you're the Exceed look alike of yourself!" Natsu reasoned, having already thought about that. Lucy didn't say anything in reply, merely keeping a blank face as she continued to roll around in the flowers.

She didn't like the idea of keeping this a secret. She knew that someone would figure out that it was really her, even though it might take a little while … Anyway. She sat up right and patted some strands of grass off of her stomach, looking up at Natsu expectantly.

"Well? Do I still smell like me?" she asked, holding her arms out as if to offer herself up to him. Natsu look a big whiff of air through his nose, stroking his chin in thought again before reaching over and grabbing a bunch of flowers by their stems and ripping them out of the ground. Then, he proceeded to pick up Lucy with one hand and rub petals over her fur roughly, making her squeal and laugh slightly at the sensation. After the petals had shriveled up and withered into pieces, he held her with both hands and brought her up to his face, pressing his nose to her stomach.

Lucy wanted to smack him on top of the head, finding the position incredibly awkward and embarrassing. Not to mention that he was taking _way _too long with the smell test, keeping his face pressed there for almost a whole thirty seconds before finally pulling away.

"I don't think anyone will be able to tell it's you, by your scent anyway. I can still pick up traces of you since I'm looking for it." He said with a smile. "Now, let's go turn this guy in and head back to the guild." He said, releasing one hand to reach up and pull his scarf away from his neck a little … and dumped her inside.

Lucy was sure of it. Her face would be permanently red if this kept up. He was being way too touchy feely to be normal. She tried to shift around, but kept getting caught in the fabric, her tail tickling her nose and wrapping around her legs.

"H-hey! Cut that out, that tickles!" he laughed out. Lucy froze when she felt the laughter vibrate through his throat, making her entire body rumble. Finally managing to sit up right, she forced her head over the top of the scarf, taking in a big gulp of fresh air. They were walking again, heading in the direction of the village.

"Do you ever wash this thing?! It smells too much like you." She complained, trying to find an easy way out of the confines of the scarf, but knew if she tried, she'd plummet to the ground. So, she got comfortable and made a hammock of sorts inside of his scarf, keeping her head popped out of the top so her ear would brush against his cheek slightly. He had dropped her top into his scarf along with her, but kept her key bag out and put it into one of his jacket pockets.

"Why would I wash it? I've had it since I was a kid, it's always gonna smell like me." Natsu said as if that were the most obvious thing.

"Natsu~, why don't you ever let me ride like that?" Happy asked, settling himself on top of the pink hair to look down at Lucy.

"You wouldn't be able to fit without suffocating me." he stated calmly. "Besides, you smell weird. Lucy smells like flowers now." He added, reaching up and patting Lucy roughly on the head.

"Stop treating me like I'm a cat, damnit!" she ordered, flailing around slightly before exhausting herself with getting tangled even more in his scarf and stopped.

"But you are a cat."

"I only look like one. I'm not an actual Exceed." She huffed, crossing her arms defiantly.

"No, you really are one. This guy said that he could turn anyone into anything. That tree got turned into an actual metal sword, so I think he could turned you into an actual Exceed."

"Aye! Lucy, try flying!"

"I can't even walk! What makes you think I can even come close to flying?!"

"It's easy! I could fly before I could walk." Happy explained, moving down to Natsu's shoulder so he could talk to her without yelling in the Dragon Slayer's ear. "When we get back to the Guild, I can show you!"

"No thanks, Happy. I liked my human body as it was, I don't exactly want to get attached to flying when I'll lose it afterwards." She explained, dipping lower in the scarf so only her eyes up were seen. She was incredibly drained for some reason, and all she wanted to do was go back home and go to sleep.

"But Luuucccyyy~"

"We'll talk about it later, okay Happy? I'm tired."

"But you didn't do anything."

"Shuddup!"

^V^V^V^V^

"Oh, c'mon Natsu, please? I just want to go home already." Lucy pleaded, not really able to do anything to force Natsu into compliance since she was still inside of his scarf. "The train is the quickest way to get home. Please?" she begged, tears sprouting in her eyes as she held her hands in front of her face, as if in prayer.

"Why can't Happy just fly of us both back? You can just stay in there, and you barely weigh anything."

"That's too far, Natsu!" Happy argued back, agreeing with Lucy full heartedly on it.

"Please? I'll do anything! Please?!" Lucy tried again, bringing out the big guns that usually didn't work on him, but maybe in this form …

Natsu's eyes widened and cheeks reddened when Lucy raised higher and rubbed her cheek against his, a noise that resembled a purr emitting from the girl. "Please, Natsu~?" she murmured as she rose even higher, bright, wide brown eyes meeting his. After staring for a few seconds, Lucy closed her eyes and bumped her forehead against the side of his head, rubbing her cheek again.

Natsu huffed out, crossing his arms defiantly. "… fine." He gave with a sigh, turning to face the mechanical death trap that sat before him.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you!" she cheered, squirming around inside his scarf in what was probably a victory dance of sorts.

"Learn how to walk again, will ya? If you're not gonna keep still in there, I'll drag you by your tail!"

**Badadadadadadada, boooorrreedddd. Most of this was written around 1 in the morning, so if some of it seems a little … weird, that's my valid excuse. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the late update, I honestly have no excuse for why this is so late other than I am the laziest ass in the galaxy.**

Chapter 4

Natsu had yet again found another reason for enjoying Lucy in this new form. Even though they usually were in opposite positions when they were on the train, Natsu had to admit he kind of liked being the pillow for once. He was lying down on the seat, his face slightly discolored, but nothing to weird, and Lucy was asleep … on his stomach. They had boarded the train and got to their cabin, Natsu immediately falling onto the seat with a blue face, and after hearing him groan for a few minutes, Lucy had moved up to sit on his chest. She had curled into a ball, turning so her back was pressed up against his nose and pretty much fell asleep within a few seconds.

Usually having Lucy so close to his nose would have settled his stomach relatively, but now since she was coated with the smell of a variety of different flowers, grass and dirt, her scent was rather faint and unnoticeable. So, he scooted her down as softly as he could to sit on his stomach, the rumble of her quiet snores vibrating against his abs, somewhat soothing his discomfort. Happy had lied down beside her, but propping himself up against the wall instead of curling up like a normal cat.

While waiting for them to finally reach Magnolia, and trying to divert his attention away from the motion of transportation, he laid back completely to stare at the ceiling, resting his hand gently on top of Lucy. He was thinking through all of the stories they had come up with to keep the idea of Lucy being this Exceed from showing up, making sure there weren't any bugs in his plan since he actually had time to think it through. He had a feeling that a few of the Guild members would be able to find the resemblance pretty quickly if they looked hard enough, but maybe … her adorableness would distract them from seeing it? Kind of like when Happy hatched. For a few minutes, everyone had just been in awe of the adorable blue kitten, and then after the excitement wore down, people started to question why the hell a cat had hatched from an egg.

Levy would probably figure it out first, if Lucy didn't tell her within an hour. He could hear the two of them talking about everything from all the way across the Guild. It was like a girl pact thing he could never understand; that they needed to tell each other everything they knew. And then he knew that Erza and Gray would probably get suspicious, which would involve Erza threatening him to tell the truth—which of course he'd do, since y'know, it's Erza we're talking about. Maybe he could use Lucy's feline cuteness to momentarily distract the red haired warrior—knowing that she had a weak spot for adorable things—while he made his escape through a window, or possibly down the toilet if all the exits were blocked.

Basically, they had to keep her relatively hidden from the more cunning eyes until they can figure something out. Maybe they could dye her fur …? No, she'd murder them both, find a way to resurrect them, and then murder them again, but this time with a far slower process that would probably involve severe draining of blood and the usage of her dear whip.

Well, until they explain the situation to Gramps, they'd have to keep her at least a little concealed. And looking at her now, he really didn't _want _anyone else to see her. Sure, she was cute as a human, as cute as teenage girl her age could get, but as a _cat …_ as cliché and cheesy as it sounded, coming from _his_ thoughts, her adorableness was boosted by at least sixty percent. And he knew that every single person in the guild had a weak spot for cute things, especially Erza. He was a little less affected by it, usually not even taking note of adorableness, but when something hit a certain level … it hit him hard.

He shook his head slightly, not wanting his thoughts to be centered on something as girlie as … cuteness levels? Lucy was getting to him or something, 'cause he never used to have these thoughts. Sure, they would occasionally … stumble across his thoughts when he saw Wendy or when Erza would rarely say "Kya" or sometimes with Lucy … but they never lingered longer than for a fleeting second.

When the train hit a rather large bump, Natsu threw his free hand—the one that wasn't resting on top of Lucy's furry body—to his mouth, trying to resist the urge to roll over onto the ground and empty his stomach's contents. Mavis, he hated transportation. Stupid Lucy and her actually managing to use her looks to get what she wanted for once. Her sex appeal obviously wouldn't work with her new … condition, but acting adorable as always seemed to be more affective. Which will make defying her all the harder … dammit. Maybe stalling her transformation back to normal wasn't such a good idea.

"Natsu."

He opened one eye enough to look over at his long time partner, attempting to smile at the blue cat, but it came out more as a grimace. Happy merely stared at his foster father for a few moments before his devious grin, his paws coming up to cover his mouth.

"I've got a plan." He said, shifting his body so he could glance at the still sleeping Lucy. Natsu slightly tensed at the action, especially when they're accompanied by those words coming from _Happy. _

"Whaddya mean?" Natsu mumbled out nervously.

"Lucy can help me win over Carla!" Happy cried out, but slapped his paws over his mouth again, turning to see if the girl had awoken from his outburst. When the female merely grumbled and rolled over onto her back, her arms and legs splayed out like a starfish, he turned his attention back to Natsu.

While he had been drifting in and out of consciousness during the ride, Happy and formulated a plan that involved Carla getting madly jealous and agreeing to be with him. And Lucy was the key to that. They just had to make sure that no one knew that the kitten-like Exceed was Lucy, and everything would work out as planned.

Natsu watched nervously as his friend rub his paws together, giggling mischievously. He had a rough idea about what was running through Happy's head, and he wasn't entirely sure what he thought about it. But before he could really ponder over his feelings about Lucy being 'used', the train lurched again, making Natsu turn blue and gargle out about how being defeated by his stomach was something no one should ever really know about.

-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-

The trio was now slowly making their way back to the Guild, Lucy still mostly asleep, but was teetering on the verge of consciousness. She had her claws digging into the fabric of Natsu's one-sleeved jacket, keeping her from tumbling to the ground as she fought to stay awake. The closer they got to the Guild, the more tense Natsu got. They had to get to Master and explain everything before anyone really saw Lucy, and he was thinking of ways to keep Lucy hidden from the prying eyes of his friends. He could always put her back inside his scarf, but he didn't want to risk her popping her head up for fresh oxygen and showing everyone what he had been hiding. Putting her in his pocket was out of the question, cause she would probably start squirming around and hurt herself.

By the time they reached the doors to the Guild, Natsu had decided to remove his scarf from around his neck and bundle Lucy up inside it. She peeked an eye open to see what all the movement was about, but was soon engulfed in the comforting warmth of his scarf, pushing her back into slumber land. She was wrapped thoroughly like a burrito, the only thing visible was her face. Cradling her in one arm, he made sure that her face was turned into his chest, so no one would be able to peek at her. Sure, it wasn't as inconspicuous as he would have liked, but at least he wouldn't look too suspicious as he asked Gramps if they could talk privately.

They pushed the doors open, trying to be ask unobvious as possible as they made their way through the room. Most people were brawling in the center of the hall, but that was mostly Elfman, Gray, (somehow they had managed to get) Erza, and a few other male members. And they didn't really seem to pay him any mind for the time being, but he knew that it wouldn't last very long, since apparently Gray had a six sense for sensing when his rival was somewhere nearby.

As they made their way through the room, they got closer and closer to the master who was sitting cross-legged on the bar. But when they were just a short distance away, Natsu made a small mistake.

"Yo! Gramps!" he hollered boisterously before pausing mid-step, freezing up at the realization that he had just drawn nearly the entire room's attention to himself. The old man opened his eyes and turned to face the Dragon Slayer, raising his eyebrow in curiosity as he eyed the scarf that was bundle in Natsu's arms. "Can we talk? Uh, in private?" Natsu asked, feeling a little awkward saying something so completely out of character and in front of everyone in the guild, no less.

"I suppose." The old man said with a sigh, jumping down from the countertop and starting to make his way up the stairs, signaling to Natsu to follow. The Dragon Slayer and Happy didn't hesitate to get on the move, since quite a few people were trying to peek at what he was hiding in his beloved scarf. He could feel Lucy squirming around inside the fabric, having been awakened by all the talking and movement and was trying to pry her way out of the article of clothing. But Natsu had wrapped her tight and thoroughly, making it incredibly difficult to move her limbs whatsoever.

Natsu quickly entered into the Master's office, the door being shut behind them without anyone moving to do so (Magic, just so that's clear) and moved to stand in front of the desk. Makarov jumped on top of the desk, crossing his arms as he stared at Natsu.

"Well, what is it, lad?" the man was trying to appear patient, but he was rather curious about what it was that Natsu was holding, wanting to get this conversation moving.

Now that the time had come, Natsu started to feel a little uncomfortable actually sharing what happened, everything he had thought through about what to say pretty much disappearing from his thoughts.

"Natsuuuuu~ it's hot in here! Lemme out!" Lucy's muffled voice broke the silence, startling Makarov and making Natsu flinch slightly. The Dragon Slayer let out a huff of breath before placing his scarf on the table, un-tucking the end of the scarf to loosen the vice like wrapping. Lucy kicked her feet free, the clothe pooling around her waist as she wiggled her way out of the confines to try and stand on the desk, only to tumble back onto her rear again.

"L-Lucy?" Makarov asked in shock, looking at the female Exceed that had Lucy's sparkling brown eyes and the same voice.

"Uh, h-hi Master." Lucy said nervously, lifting a paw to wave awkwardly before averting her eyes and grabbing to her tail to toy with it.

"Natsu, please explain." The old man demanded, not entirely sure what to make of the situation.

"It was a mishap with the mission, that's all. The guy wanted his own cat, so he decided to transform Lucy into one." Natsu explained nonchalantly, earning a glare from Lucy at how he appeared to not be taking the situation seriously.

"And he couldn't transform her back?"

"Nah, I beat him up and knocked him out before I knew what had happened to her, so he was useless at the time."

"I see, and what is it you'd like me to do?"

"We wanna keep this a secret from everyone else!" Happy chimed in, landing behind Lucy and lifting her to her feet, helping to keep up.

_"Why?" _Makarov sounded genuinely surprised by this, shifting his gaze to Happy.

" … Reasons." Natsu said, crossing his arms and turning his head in hopes of hiding the miniscule blush that had grown across his face. "Plus, we wanna see if it's wear off on its own."

"B-but, if you have a potion or something that _can _change me back, I'd appreciate that, too!" Lucy said, chiming in, her eyes hopeful as she looked up at the Master.

"As a matter of fact, I _did _have a reversal potion, but I used it last week Alzack when they returned from a mission with Bisca. I can conjure up another, but it'll take at least a week, two at the most." The master explained, ducking his down to look at Lucy's level. "But if you don't want anyone to know about this, what do you want to tell them?"

"That we an egg and it hatched on the way back."

"And for Lucy's absence?"

Lucy answered the question herself with a slightly dejected sigh. "That I decided to stay behind at the city and help with the damages."

The Master looked a little reluctant to go along with the plan, but one look at the hopeful boys, he sighed and nodded.

"I'll go along with this, at least until I've got the potion made up. If you haven't transformed back by then, I expect you two to come up with an excuse when the new cat goes missing." Makarov said, pointing his finger at Natsu and Happy warningly. Lucy stared up at the Master with her jaw dropped open slightly. She had agreed with the two boys in hopes that the Master would deny their request and just change her back. But the fact that he had granted Natsu and Happy the permission to _not _share her identity, went against what she had planned.

"Yosh!" Natsu cheered, pumping a fist in the air while Happy did his own happy dance on the desk, forgetting that Lucy had been relying on his hold to keep standing. She let out a startled shriek as she fell back onto her rear again, only this time bouncing and tumbled over the edge of the desk. Happy had grabbed onto her tail at the same time that Natsu had ducked down and grabbed her with his hand, stopping her from splatting on the ground. "Seriously. Learn how to stand, Luce." Natsu chuckled as he brought her back up to sit on his scarf, beginning to wrap it around her body loosely.

"What're you wrapping me up again for?" she pouted, trying to tug her small arms out from under the fabric.

"Cause you're playing as a kitten, 'member? You _just _hatched." Natsu said, pushing the paw that she had managed to free back into the cocoon of his scarf. She tried to scowl up at him intimidatingly as he, yet again, stopped her attempt to free her arms, but he just let out a rather loud laugh at the expression. And there was that word again, coursing through his thoughts as he looked down at her; adorable.

"But …" Lucy was pouting, not liking the idea that she was about to be treated like a baby.

"C'mon, Luce, think of it as … a challenge—of acting! Yeah! You gotta try and convince everyone that you were just born." He said with a smile, finishing his burrito wrapping around her small body with a satisfied nod and picked her up again, cradling her like a baby. Lucy couldn't help fight off the blush that spread across her fur covered cheeks, her ears involuntarily drooping and folding back against her head.

"Let's just get this over with so I can go home." She mumbled, closing her eyes and trying to look like she was asleep. She could feel his silent laughter rumbling through his chest as he and Happy made their way back to the door, and could also here the slight chuckles coming from the old man they were leaving behind in the office.

Natsu opened the door and started to descend the stairs, feeling a little uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on him, but he brushed the discomfort aside with a wide grin.

"What was that about, flame-for-brains?" Gray asked, the first to break the silence that had fallen over the guild. The ice mage began to strip off his shirt as he made his way towards the fire dragon.

"Oi! Don't do that! Are you trying to scar her for life?!" Natsu snapped, narrowing his eyes as he cupped the back of Lucy's head, as if to protect her from the sight of Gray's usual stripping habit—which was completely pointless since her eyes were still closed.

"What're you talking about, moron?" Gray asked, frowning and quirking an eyebrow as he looked at the scarf that was still bundled in his arms. "And who's 'her'?"

And before Natsu could really process it happening, Gray had snatched Lucy out of his grasp, holding her at arms' length to examine it. The ice mage had definitely not expected seeing the small furry face of a yellow kitten.

"Oi! Be careful with 'er!" Natsu snarled, snatching Lucy back, but in the process slightly unraveling his wrapping. Lucy had to hold back the smirk that threatened to spread across her face as she decided now would be a good time to throw the 'fussy-newborn' act into action. Twisting her face into discomfort, she squirmed violently in the now loosened scarf, managing to worm her arms out and flailed the limbs around as she whimpered and whined in a tone that even surprised her with how … _babyish _she managed to sound. "Nice job, ice princess, ya woke 'er up."

"W-wha …?" Gray was obviously confused and slightly stunned as he watched Natsu cradle the yellow kitten to his side, while simultaneously glaring at him with irritation.

"Natsu-san! Where did you get her?" Wendy asked, the next to confront the Dragon Slayer, but with a much more friendly and excited feeling. She skipped up the pink haired man and looked at the kitten, smiling widely with sparkling, curious eyes.

"We found an egg on the mission and it hatched on the train back here." Natsu explained, smiling at the 12 year old, getting excited himself even though he knew that it was Lucy he was holding and not an actual kitten Exceed.

"She's precious!" Mirajane cut in from behind the bar, leaning over the countertop to steal a look at Lucy.

"What?! You get two cats?" Gajeel snarled from his spot at one of the booths with Levy, who was hugging Lily to her chest as she stared at the 'new kitten' in curiosity.

"Yea, what of it, tin-face?" Natsu asked with a smirk, wrapping the still slightly fussing Lucy in both arms and hugging her to his chest, similar to the way Lucy would hug Happy to her own.

"Natsu, I think you're crushing her." Lisanna said, giggling as he looked down to see that Lucy, was in fact, squirming with genuine discomfort. Natsu loosened his grip, Lucy calming down and sagging against his arm slightly as the air was welcomed back into her lungs. She felt Natsu shifting her around again, turning her onto her back and holding her in his hands. Slowly, she peeked her eyes open, looking up at the eyes of all her Guild mates looking down at her. To cover up the blush that was, again, growing across her face, she stretched out her limbs and squeezed her eyes shut, pretending to yawn, an embarrassing little squeak accidentally slipping past her lips. When she opened her eyes again, she curled her legs and arms into her body a little, opening her mouth into a smile as she met Erza's sparkling eyes.

And quite literally, everyone in the room 'awww'ed, except for the obvious tough guys; Gajeel and Laxus, but even Elfman had been involved in the crowd.

"What's her name?" Wendy asked, her hands folded under her chin as she smiled down at Lucy. Carla was hovering over her shoulder, her eyes more open and curious than they usually were, but there was a hint of suspicion behind her dark brown orbs.

"We … haven't thought about it yet." Natsu said, his smile slightly falling from his face as he glanced up at Happy.

"Ooh! Can we help pick?!" someone from inside the crowd asked.

"Uh, sure?" Natsu sounded slightly unsure, the fact that they wouldn't be able to call Lucy 'Lucy' while she was like this hadn't crossed his mind.

"Princess!"

"Cutie-Pie!"

"Blood'n'gore!"

"Man!"

"She's a girl!"

"What about Nalu?"

"… Nalu?" Natsu question Mira's suggestion, cocking his eyebrow in confusion. He had heard some strange names, but that … was a new one.

"Yeah! It's a mixture of yours and Lucy's names! She could be like you two's little baby!" Mira squealed at the idea, staring up at the ceiling with a wide smile.

"But Natsuuuu, you said _I _was like the baby!" Happy whined, lowering himself onto Natsu shoulder to look at the Dragon Slayer tearfully. Lucy had to refrain from yelling out a loud 'WHAT' and keep her eyes from widening in shock, and instead tried to keep the innocent curiosity in her eyes. This was harder than she would have liked.

"Uh, y-you are! She can be … your … little sister?" Natsu offered awkwardly, scratching the back of his head with one hand while shifting Lucy to cradle to his chest again.

"So? Can her name be Nalu?" Mira asked hopefully.

"Uh, I don't think so." He muttered with a small blush.

"Well, what about Hoshi(Star)?" Wendy offered.

"Hoshi?" Natsu blinked.

"I like it!" "Me too." "I think that should be it." "That name is _man!_" Everyone piped in, nodding their heads in approval. Natsu and Happy shared an uncertain look, worried that someone would end up overhearing them call her 'Lucy' when they thought they were alone. But then, a high pitched voice echoed up from Natsu's hands.

"Yosh!" she said, actually surprising Natsu with how much she sounded so … young. He looked down to meet her wide brown eyes that stared up at him with bubbly joy. The fact that she had actually spoke didn't surprise anyone, since the first word that Happy had said was 'Aye' and he had spoken the word a few seconds after he hatched.

And suddenly, she was swept out of his hands and was being crushed against the harsh surface of Erza's armor in a tight, painful looking hug. And just throughout the day, Natsu and Happy barely got a chance to even glance on her again because she was being passed from person to person before they even had a chance to look in their direction. Well, it wasn't so much 'passing' but more of 'snatching out of the person's grasp'. And even after everyone who wanted to hold her had gotten their chance, all the girls had pulled her to sit on the bar and crowded around the new kitten.

A few people had asked about Lucy's whereabouts and Natsu had grudgingly answered without ever looking up to meet their eyes, just keeping his position of being slouched over his booth's table. This is what he had been worried about. Natsu never really did like to share things with people, it always sent his nerves aflame. And that same reaction was occurring right now as he watched people pet and hold Lucy. He didn't find it fair that he had made it clear that she was going to his exceed—even though her knew it would only be for a short time, yet he barely had gotten to see her at all that afternoon.

And when Gray had went over to join the girls, pressing his hand roughly over her head, forcing her ears to droop down in front of her eyes; he snapped. He looked over at Happy, who was looking just as dejected since Carla's attention had been on Lucy the entire time, and whispered what he wanted into the cat's ear.

"Aye sir!" Happy said with a determined glint in his black eyes, happy to end this little 'cuddle-fest' as he took to the air and stealthily made his way towards the crowd of people at the bar.

Lucy had at first enjoyed all the attention she had been getting, but it was slowly getting annoying how people continuously kept fawning over her. Mira had even tried to bottle feed her a baby mixture that had tasted horrible. And she hadn't been put down a single time since she had been revealed to their friends, always being in someone's arms, and it was seriously pushing her personal limit of physical contact. She liked having personal space, something that was invaded on a regular bases thanks to Natsu, but this was just ridiculous.

Then, she was, yet again, yanked out of the arms of the person who had been holding her and into the air. She looked behind her in shock to see that Happy had pulled her out of the crowd and out of reach, holding her underneath her arms and letting her legs dangle.

"Happy!" someone in the crowd called out in irritation.

The he-cat merely chuckled and flew them over to where Natsu was standing, dropping Lucy onto his shoulder and perching himself on the other.

"Sorry! We out!" Natsu said as he turned tail and ran out the door, feeling both the cats on his shoulders gripping their claws into his shoulders. And once they stepped out of the guild, Happy sprouted his wings and lifted them all into the air, disappearing into the night sky.

**Um, yeah, how the hell was I suppose to end this chapter?! I really need to think out how the guild is going to work with my plot :/**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Thanks you guys, that was starting to get really annoying." Lucy said with a sigh of relief as she sagged over Natsu's shoulder, her tail swinging lazily against his lower back.

"You're telling me." Natsu muttered, his cheeks puffing up slightly in irritation.

"I feel so gross, having everyone touching me and stuff. Levy even somehow convinced Gajeel to hold me for a bit. I don't think he's washed his gloves for a couple decades." Lucy gagged, remembering how the iron dragon slayer had held her rather awkwardly at first in a way that forced her to lick the palm of his glove. Levy of course scolded him for being so rough with 'the little baby kitten', and showed him how to hold her correctly, which had been extremely awkward on Lucy's part as he attempted to smile down at her, which looked more like a grimacing sneer. "I can't wait to get back home and take a nice hot bath."

Usually, the idea was more appealing to Lucy, but at the idea of a big tub of water, a tingle shivered down her spine, making her fur stand on edge a little bit.

"Lushy, you actually _want _to take a bath?" Happy asked in exasperation, climbing up to sit on the top of Natsu's head.

"Well, yes and no." she muttered in reply, pushing herself into a sitting position and kicking her stubby legs. She glared down at the limbs, wanting to be able to walk for herself again.

"Well, we're almost to your apartment, so you can decide then." Natsu said, turning to look at her out of the corner of his eye with a smile.

"Just make sure to use the door this time, and not the window." She said, leaning to give him a pointed look.

"Yea, yea." He replied with a wave of his hand.

"Lushy, why don't you try walking now?" Happy offered.

"That would be nice, but my legs still aren't really cooperating."

"They work fine, it's your sense of balance that's all weird." Natsu said, reaching up to grab onto one of her legs and shifted it around.

"Aye! You gotta use your tail!" Happy added, standing up on top of Natsu's pink haired head and waved his tail proudly.

"It's not that easy!" Lucy cried, glaring at the two of them, feeling rather flustered. It's not her fault that she didn't understand how to use her tail, she never had an extra limb attached to her butt before, so she really wasn't used to using any muscles down there. Not that she planned on explaining that to them, since it would only make her more embarrassed. She looked back over her shoulder at her tail, watching it sway back and forth from Natsu's movements. She glared at it, narrowing her eyes in exertion as she tried to flex the limp tail. Even though she felt slightly proud of herself for getting the tip to twitch, it wasn't enough to lift her damped spirits.

Even if she regretted agreeing to posing as Natsu's new cat, it's not like she would have been able to change back with anyone's help. Master was her only real hope of becoming normal again if the effects didn't wear off on their own. And no matter what kind of persuasion Natsu and Happy tried on her, she was _not _staying a cat any longer than she has, too.

They reached her apartment faster than she had anticipated, but she was pleased to the see the pale coloring of the building none the less.

But just as Natsu was about to push the door open, it flew open to reveal Lucy's land lady—yet again dressed in one of Lucy's old outfits. She stared up at the tall pink haired man who was accompanied by two cats with wide eyes, mostly because of the glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose.

"No animals allowed." She stated simply, keeping an even stare with the man. Lucy would have cried out in shock had her jaw not detached itself from her head, hanging slack.

"What?! Since when?!" Natsu asked in exasperation, not liking this new rule since Happy was a constant visitor to Lucy's home, quite often—if not always—accompanying Natsu.

"It's always been a rule. I didn't count Ms. Lucy's spirit as an animal, and you and your blue cat always seem to come in through her bedroom window, so I was never able to stop you. But now, I can. If you have those animals on you, you won't step foot through this door." She said, staring up at him unblinkingly. All three of the Fairy Tail members were slack jawed, Natsu and Happy mourning the loss of a comfortable place to sleep other than their own house and free food from her fridge, while Lucy was freaking out over the fact that she had never been aware of this rule and that it was strangely inconvenient that she was being told this _now _as she is _in fact _an animal! "Oh, and the next time you see Ms. Lucy, tell her that her rent has been bumped up ten thousand jewel." She added as an afterthought before slamming the door shut on the trio.

Lucy's soul was now floating away from her body. Not only was she not allowed back inside her own house for another week, possibly longer, but she would be paying 80,000 jewel for a room she wouldn't even being living in for a good amount of time!

Okay Lucy, deep breath, calm down. She said that they _wouldn't step through that door _as long as Natsu had her and Happy on him, but that didn't mean they couldn't go through the window.

"L-let's just go up through my window, okay?" Lucy said, looking over at Natsu with wide eyes. He regained his senses and looked over at her, seemingly pondering the idea. Lucy's blood ran cold as a slow sly smile grew across his handsome face.

"But you said not to go through your window. And since we can't go through _the door, _I guess that means we have to stay somewhere else." He reached up and grabbed the scruff of Lucy's neck, bringing her to be eye to eye with him. "Looks like we're gonna be staying at my place."

"NO! Have you even _cleaned _the place since the last time I did?!" Lucy hollered in horror, trying to wiggle her way out of Natsu's firm grip to no avail.

He didn't offer any form of reply, merely smirking wider and turned on his heel to walk the other way down the street. Lucy felt ridiculous. Natsu had dropped his arms back to his side while still holding her by her neck scruff and was now walking casually, swinging her like she was a bag.

"No, Natsu! Just toss me up to my window! I can handle the rest!" Lucy's small limbs flailed. During her small spaz attack, her nail caught Natsu's wrist.

"Ow!" he yelled, instinctively dropping her in favor of gripping the small, thread sized cut. It was so small that not even his highly heightened eyesight could barely pick up on it. He looked down and scold Lucy, but she wasn't where he thought she'd be. After he had dropped her, she had bounced a small bit and landed on her feet, running towards her apartment without even thinking. "Hey! Get back here!" he yelled, completely forgetting about the minor flesh wound in favor of running after the small yellow Exceed.

"Hey! I'm running!" Lucy called happily, looking down at her legs. She was slower than she'd like, still not entirely confident with the small limbs, but at least they could support her weight and moved how she wanted them to. She could feel her tail being held in the air, no longer dragging behind her. Apparently, it was all about instinct. After her body when into reaction mode, she just remembered what it did on instinct and held onto it. Experimentally, she tried to wave her tail, managing to get it to move slightly at the tip, but not the entire thing. She shouldn't push her luck anyway.

Honestly though, what luck? She barely got a few yards away before Happy swooped down and scooped her up, laughing. She of course squirmed but just knew that any efforts were futile. They'd catch her eventually, even if she had full grown legs. She pouted and crossed her arms as Happy carried back over to Natsu, who stood standing rather smugly waiting for them to reach him. Happy dangled her in front of him, the male and female exceed staring at each other—one with distaste and the other in absolute pure amusement.

"Nice tryyyyy~" Natsu sang, leaning forward with his fists on his hips, their noses nearly brushing at their close proximity. He smirked widely before snatching her from Happy's grasp yet again and tucked her under his arm, making sure that her arms were pinned to her sides so she couldn't scratch him again and make her escape. "Now, _to my place!" _he cried victoriously, pointing off into the distance before making a run for it.

-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-

"Welcome to our honey adobe!" Natsu said with a happy smile, standing proudly in front of his and Happy's small house.

"The phrase is _humble abode _and I've been here before." Lucy grumbled, still tucked tightly under Natsu's arm. "You can put me down now, ya know. We're too far from town for me to run away—or get very far without you guys catching me in the first place."

"Nah." He said simply, still smiling proudly as he marched up to the front door.

"Think of it like payback for all the times we've stayed at _your _place." Happy said optimistically, thoroughly enjoying the situation a little more than he should.

"But you guys _wanted _to be at my place, I _don't _want to be here!" she now struggled futilely against Natsu's grip, the Dragon Slayer not even aware of her movements as he threw the door open and marched in. Lucy was immediately hit with the overwhelming stench of garbage and body odor. She looked up slack-jawed at the enormous mess of their living room—the living room she had spent an entire day cleaning not but a few months ago. Piles of dirty vests, jackets and puffy pants littered the floor, papers, wrappers and empty pizza boxes sat on the floor like confetti. The only area that was lacking anything on the floor was the small little path that led to the souvenir wall that had seemed to grow more crowded and his hammock of a bed.

Now, Lucy was fighting his grip for an entirely different reason—to free her arms so she could cover her nose! The scent was unbelievably overwhelming, enough that her vision was blurring with tears and her mind was slightly hazing over.

"It smells horrible in here!" she cried in disgust, looking up at Natsu, pretty much pleading for sympathy and just let her stay outside.

"It's not that bad! It's probably just you, you _were _held by a lot of people that I'm pretty sure haven't washed their hands for a couple weeks." Natsu said, holding her out in front of him. He could smell almost everyone from the guild on her, minus Laxus who had refused to really look at her in favor of staying out of the crowds. In all honesty, Natsu knew for a fact that he hadn't even really had a chance to even glance at her, since she was constantly being swarmed around—Natsu should know, since he had tried to keep an eye on her the entire day but had barely any luck seeing so much as a speck of her brightly colored fur. "Maybe you just need a bath to get the guild off of you."

"A b-bath?" Happy and Lucy stuttered out together. The same feeling of dread at the thought of the tub of water had spread throughout her stomach, making it knot and twist uncomfortably.

"This is gonna be fun." Natsu said with what only Lucy could deduce as an evil smile. He knows that every cat—human turned cat, whatever—hated baths, it's the simply nature. And he was seeing this as payback for scratching him earlier.

"N-no, Natsu! That's not necessary! Really!" She sputtered out, sounding rather terrified, as he carried her towards the bathroom—needing to climb over a large pile of clothes to get to the hidden door.

"Oh c'mon, Luce! I won't be that bad!" he said, entering the tiny room. There was basically only room to stand and turn around. The tub was pressed up against the sink, and the toilet was on the other side, all cramped together in the small room. After Happy flew in and landed on top of the shower rail, Natsu shut the door and sat her on top of the sink. Her eyes were wide as she watched Natsu turn to the tub and turn on the faucet, sticking his finger under the flow to test the temperature—which of course was cold to him but normal temperature to any normal person.

Lucy looked around the small room, trying to find any way of escape and only coming up with a few options. A) flush herself down the toilet B) make a jump for the door knob and hope that she can pry the door open and make an escape before Natsu can catch her or C) somehow mentally communicate with Happy and hope that he would have pity on her and help her get out of the situation. She looked up at the blue cat, seeing him eye the water with distaste but he held a sort of relief, obviously due to the fact that he wasn't going to be the one put into it. So, it was quite clear that asking the mischievous exceed for any sort of help was completely out of it.

And before Lucy even really had a chance to consider her other two options, she was picked up by her underarms and held a few inches above the overflowing tub. Lucy was praying that she'd manage to keep herself afloat with her tiny limbs, even though she knows the likely hood of that was extremely small—since she could barely even stand on her legs.

_"Nats—" _but her cry was cut off as she was suddenly under the crystal blue tub. The water was a nice hot temperature—one that she would have thoroughly enjoyed as a human, but her small feline body was rejecting the very idea of liquid. She flailed her arms and legs around wildly, hoping to breach the surface, but she was quite certain that she possibly flipped upside down since she never seemed to reach it. Her eyes were stinging from the water that had suddenly assaulted them, and was making it difficult to see where she was in the tub.

She had never felt so grateful when she felt the giant warm hands of her partner grab onto her tiny body and pull her out of the water. She sputtered and coughed out the water she had accidentally breathed in, blinking the water from her eyes as she looked up at the apologetic smile the pink haired man was giving her.

"Sorry, I was grabbing some soap." He said, released one hand to reach over to the light blue bottle he had sat on the edge of the tub, flipping the lid off and tipped it upside down. The tub immediately filled with giant, soapy bubbles, covering the water's surface nearly completely.

Natsu looked down at the wide eyed look that yellow exceed was giving him, pretty much pleading for him to take her away from the watery hell he had just dropped her into. He remembered when Happy was a kitten and had put up an enormous fight at the thought of a bath, and now the older cat merely shuddered at the thought. Sure, he still didn't like them, but he would get into them every once in a while when he was going to be around Carla.

He wanted to burst out laughing at the way she looked, still adorable, but absolutely ridiculous. Her fur was matted down, her ears pressed against her head from the heaviness of the water, and her eyes looked even larger on her small head. So he merely chuckled and dunked her back in, making sure to keep her head above the surface so she wouldn't drown like she nearly had. Grabbing onto the soap bar on the opposite wall to him, he scrubbed he over the top of her head, small soapy suds sprouting and covering the top of her head.

She mewed helplessly, her small body going limp in defeat, just letting Natsu wash off the day from her fur. It was completely and entirely unpleasant, but there was no stopping it now, considering she was already soaked to the bone and covered in bubbles. Might as well let him finish it and smell like grocery store bought bar soap than everyone else in the guild.

After one last dunk completely under the water, she was pulled out of the water. She started to tremble profusely, the chilly air mixed with her wet fur making her fanged teeth chatter slightly. Natsu smiled a large grin, reaching over to the side of the tub and picked up one of the towels, wrapping it around her small body.

"N-n-never do-do that ag-g-gain!" she glared up at him as well as he could while still chattering. He did in fact laugh out loud this time, but took pity on her and heated up his hands, ceasing her chatter to minute trembling.

"Oi, Happy, go roast up some fish for dinner." Natsu said, looking up at the amused exceed that was still sitting on top of the railing.

"Aye, sir!"

Natsu pulled Lucy into his arms, cradling her like he had earlier that day and carried her into the garbage filled living room, shoving aside a few piles of old vests from on top of his couch to make room for them to sit. Flopping down onto the stiff cushion, he propped her on his lap and thoroughly rubbed the towel over her.

"Mfs—mfnatsu—shtenop—" her muffled voice occasionally managed to slip out from under the thick fabric of the towel, Natsu just chuckling again—but completely lost it when he pulled the towel from her head to see that her fur was standing straight up from static. The yellow fluff ball glared up at the pink haired man, shuffling herself out from the towel and dragged herself to his belt, where he had placed her key bag. She grabbed onto Cancer's key and bounded away from her partner's lap, having rather sit on top of a large pile of filth than on her so-called 'best friend' at the moment.

"Open Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" she chanted, swinging the key through the air with both her small paws. With a flash of light, the crab-like man stood in the middle of the room, his ever faithful scissors within his grasp.

"Hello-ebi." He said, snipping the air and staring down at the yellow fluff ball standing on the pile of clothes with a straight face.

"Can you do something about this?" she asked, gesturing to her static coated fur. "Then maybe do something to Natsu just for the hell of it." She mumbled the last part, crossing her short arms over her no longer busty chest, ignoring the indignant _"hey!" _from Natsu.

"Of course-ebi." He said, snipping the air once more before the entire area was suddenly coated in small, short, yellow hairs. A few of them got up Natsu's nose, causing him to go into a slight sneezing fit long enough for Cancer to finish his work. "How is this-ebi?" _snip snip. _

"Perfect! Thank you, Cancer!" she said, resting a paw on his arm before dismissing him. Natsu glanced over her to see that her fur was now back to its original non-static length, a little bow attached to her right ear. She turned to face Natsu, all previous annoyance having disappeared. She opened her mouth to say something, but was promptly cut off when Happy dropped a giant tray of fried fish in the space between her and Natsu.

"Time to eat!" Happy cried happily from his perch on the back of the couch, three fishes already piled in his arms.

"Yosh!" Natsu also cheered, grabbing a handful of fish, leaving three for Lucy. While she watched her two teammates eat their dinner like savage animals, she slid down the pile of filth to land before the dish. The aroma of fish filling her nose and, for possibly the first time in her life, drooled over the smell—of fish! She grabbed onto one of the fish and brought it to her tiny mouth, her fangs coming in handy biting into the hard skin to get to the delicious meat that rested beneath. Ripping off a fairly large piece—which to other people was about the size of a crumb—she chewed and swallowed, the light in her eyes glimmering with joy.

"It's soooo good!" She cheered with a large smile, beginning to gnaw on the fish with a new vigor, trying to take bigger pieces but her tiny mouth did have limits to the sizes it could fit. She closed her eyes an just enjoyed the flavor of the dish, always having liked fish, but now finding it unbelievably delicious. Maybe cause she hadn't really been fed anything all day—unless you count the baby formula Mira tried to give her.

"See! What'd I tell you!" Happy said, dropping himself down beside her with joyful eyes at the idea of another exceed loving fish as much as he did. She pushed the remaining piece of her fish into her mouth and reached for the piece that Happy had in his paws—it looking perfectly cooked and juicy. "Hey! This one's mine!" he said, pulling it behind him and out of reach.

"C'mon! Natsu ate the last two!" she said, pointing up at the pink haired culprit who did, in fact, have the last remaining fish poking out of his mouth. Both exceeds ignored his protests and pleads of innocence in favor of wrestling over the last bit of fish. Lucy was smaller and weighed a lot less, so Happy had more of an advantage with his size. But with her tininess, she managed to squeeze out of his holds rather easy and snatch the fish.

Natsu watched the hassle with amusement, but slight jealousy. He and Lucy used to do that all the time, whenever he would try and read her novel or eat her food from the Guild. And now, thanks to her size, they wouldn't really be able to have their playful fights without Lucy possibly getting crushed. So, he just continued to chew on the last bit of fish as he watched Lucy finally grab the fish and stand victoriously on top of an exhausted Happy, shoving the piece into her mouth. She'd managed to get her legs working again, at least, as long as she didn't really think about it.

"I think we should go to bed." Happy mumbled from underneath the victoriously standing Lucy, his eyes spinning and sweat coating his fur.

"… Yeah. I didn't even realize how tired I am." Lucy added with a nod, jumping off of Happy and helping his stand.

"Why are _you_ tired, you slept almost the entire day." Natsu mumbled.

"Cause cats sleep more than humans." Both Happy and Lucy answered with an almost prideful tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go to bed." Natsu said, waving his hand at the two of them. He held his arms out to Lucy, waiting for her to jump into them.

"Hey! Lucy's sleeping with me!" Happy said, grabbing onto the poor girl's head and pulling her back, making her little limbs flail slightly in panic.

"What?! No way! She's sleeping with me in my hammock!" Natsu retorted, reaching to grab onto Lucy, but she was yet again yanked from his reach by the blue exceed.

"Noooo! My nest is more comfy!"

"Guys! Can't I just sleep on the couch—"

"NO! You're staying in my hammock—" "in my nest!" the two boys glared at each other, both not wanting to give up on their side of the argument.

"Can't we all just go to sleep? Please? I'll sleep wherever I didn't tonight tomorrow, if that's what it takes to go to sleep." She offered, her eyes beginning to sag shut a little.

" … fine. But you're staying in my hammock first!" Natsu said, taking the first move and grabbed Lucy. She squeaked out when his fingers squeezed the air out of her lungs, her eyes widening when they suddenly became airborne—diving over the piles of filth and in the direction of the hammock. She didn't even have the sense to scream when they hit the fabric bed and began to spin and wind. She squeezed her eyes shot, listening to Natsu's laughter as they continued to spin and just waited for the movement to stop. When they did, she opened her eyes to see that they had been completely cocooned in the hammock, the only thing allowing her to see in the dark were her cat eyes.

She was about to scold the man, but was then promptly hugged tightly to his chest, cutting off her lecture. It was only a matter of second before she could feel the slight rumbles of his snores against her back, amazing her how quickly someone as energetic as Natsu could fall asleep. After wishing Happy a good night, she, too, closed her eyes and let the slightly vibrations of his snores soothe her to sleep.

**I am INFINITELY sorry for the wait. I just kept stalling cause I couldn't think of how to finish this chapter and just decided to end it like this. I've been distracted with life, cause school started up again and I've been working on my own manga and art and stuff, so yea. ENJOY!**


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